1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for incorporating electronic signals representative of at least audio information into still film photographs, such as slides and prints.
The present invention is directed at achieving this objective in a manner which preserves compatibility with current art photographic equipment and processing. It is further directed at providing an upgrade pathway from the existing art to the newly introduced art that ordinary persons, such as amateur photographers, can implement on their own. It is still further directed at accomplishing the above identified objectives in a simple and economical fashion. Finally, a new generation of photographic viewing and projecting devices is presented.
2. Description of Related Art
Known in the art are electronic still video cameras which capture images onto video floppy discs. Some versions of these cameras are equipped to record sound. Still video cameras, as their name implies, are essentially "one frame at a time" variations of ordinary video cameras. Moreover, they do not make use photographic film. Also known in the art are numerous techniques for incorporating sound into motion picture film. The present invention, however, relates primarily to still film photography.
It is an object of the present invention to provide optional, on-demand sound capability in a still film camera while preserving, to the fullest extent possible, existing formats and practices used in the art of ordinary still film photography.